Cultural contrasts in Dublin

Up to the 1990s, Dublin and Irish urban cultures had only been marginally studied by cultural and social anthropologists, even though the Greater Dublin Area has been home to almost one third of the Republic's population for several decades. From this time anthropologists slowly became aware of the variety of cultural groups and topics which shape Ireland's capital. This growing awareness went hand in hand with the major economic, architectural, social and cultural changes which Dublin was experiencing. Sparked by Ireland's membership of the EU (then EEC) and accelerated by the Celtic Tiger economy and increasing numbers of immigrants, the city has turned into a multicultural space of a variety unprecedented before. The articles in this book are based on a student research project in Dublin in 2006, presenting four ethnographic case studies ranging from immigration and the formation of new religious groups to survival strategies of the urban homeless.